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Before and after: Kitchen Solvers remodeling and cabinet franchise mixes new and old to give Georgia couple a stunning upgrade

Jackie Gallantine waited 15 years for a kitchen remodel. “(She) never liked the cabinets from Day One,” says her husband, Ron. “They were oak, and that’s not the style she likes. Every time she saw cream-colored cabinets, she would talk about how much better the kitchen could look. I held her at bay for 15 years. Now, staring at our new cabinets, I know she was right. We should have done it sooner.”

The Gallantine’s new kitchen.

The Gallantines, who are in their early 60s and live in Marietta, Ga., hired Kitchen Solvers remodeling and cabinet franchise owner Art Mancino to transform the look of their kitchen, and while Ron calls the kitchen “new,” that’s not entirely true — some of the cabinets are completely new, but many of them are simply refaced. Take a look at the before-and-after photos of their Marietta, Ga., kitchen, and see if you can tell which is which.

No? That’s the point. Kitchen Solvers franchise owners are so good at what they do that it is hard to tell the difference between a brand new cabinet and a sturdy old cabinet that has been given a facelift.

The Gallantines’ kitchen before the remodel.

The Gallantines were thrilled. Ron, especially, liked that the couple were able to keep the old cabinet boxes, which were still in great shape.

“They were really good cabinets and I didn’t see throwing them away,” he says. “They still are really great cabinets — they just look different on the outside.”

“We did have a few of the old cabinets taken out that were undersized — you couldn’t fit plates in them,” he says. “Art and his son Tommy made some larger cabinets for us, and so she finally has everything in the right place. And to have everything still match was exceptional.”

Ron says the couple saved some money by opting to have a lot of the old cabinets refaced rather than replaced, but he said he was so impressed by the quality of the work that he would have gone with Kitchen Solvers regardless.

He and Jackie had seen the quality of the craftsmanship at the home of a friend who had hired Kitchen Solvers previously.

“When you actually see it, you see the quality of the product, you don’t need to look anymore,” he said.

In addition to the quality of the work, Ron praised the process.

“That was the best part, really. We’ve had a lot of contractors in our house over the years. Some we had to fire, they were so bad,” he said. “We enjoyed Art and Tommy so much. They clean at the end of every day. They didn’t leave any mess, ever — even in the garage, which they used as a staging area. They are just the nicest people to work with, and that was really something that you don’t know you’re going to get. They gave us an estimate of how long it would take, and they were right on the money.”

Ron says the remodel has changed the way he and his wife use their kitchen.

“We still smile when we look at it,” he says. “I kind of feel guilty that we didn’t do this sooner, because it’s been a very worthwhile thing to do. We’d actually had some other refacing outfit come in the past and they showed this little cheesy veneer that they stick on, and I knew I didn’t want that in my kitchen, and discovering that Kitchen Solvers does it a completely different way. They should almost have a completely different name for what they do, because it’s not the same thing.